“New York, New York, so good we called here twice” (sorry Frank Sinatra).

We made the most of our last morning in New Orleans to stroll the streets once more and for me to finally sample the famous beignets. We had been told they were a must and for sure these hot, sweet pastries (a cross between a donut and a light, fluffy Yorkshire pudding) arrived at the table covered in icing sugar. That was the beignets that were covered in sugar rather than the table, although eating one of those without exhaling the sugar coating is something of a challenge. How to eat 3 of them (the one portion size) was a marathon task – and that would be the daunting kind, not the now called Snickers bar. Even the Beignet Cafe gave us a morning jazz concert of a very high standard.

We packed up rather reluctantly, sad that even though we had crammed a huge amount into our two day stopover, there was much we had missed. We hadn’t explored the ghost walks, the cemeteries or the voodoo ‘experience’. Chuckle. Actually, we caught sight of one of the cemeteries on our way to the airport. It was full of magnificent tombstones, presumably monuments to the great and the good, or maybe to the wealthy and bad. Ah well, New Orleans is yet another place on my “must return” list.

The car valet service at the hotel was excellent, even though the car park was 15 blocks away. The car was brought to the door at the appointed time, our cases loaded up, although the cheerful offer of directions was politely rejected in favour of ‘Sally the Sat Nav’. This time she didn’t play games or tease with alternative routes. We filled up the tank and rolled into the Budget car return in minutes. Even that was slick. No paperwork needed as everything was on a hand held computer with bar code readings. The car had done its job without incident this year and a mere 2065 miles added to the clock.

The timings of hotel checkouts plus the need to return the car on time, meant we had a long visit with Louis Armstrong, well, his airport at least. An internal flight with Delta to New York, a late evening arrival at our airport hotel and, apart from the small matter of an overnight flight from JFK on Sunday, that’s it! Our musical road trip is finished. We have experienced a wide range of musical genres, had a very large number of amazing times, seen, done, tasted a huge variety of memorable moments and appreciated all of it. Thanks for the fun times, Carolyn, and thanks to our families for their encouragement/indulgence of a couple of ‘girls’ of a certain age who like nothing more than an open road with places to see and people to meet at the end.

Goodbye New Orleans…..hello JFK

Carolyn’s Curios & Musical Notes 🎼🎶🖌

How to finish a journey which, through memories, will never end?

The final post is being written on a relative small plane doing the internal flight from New Orleans to New York. We are in Row 18 (four seats to a row) which, it transpires, is only two from the rear of the aircraft. Quite different to our transatlantic flight tomorrow back to the U.K. And, it has onboard Wifi!! (We haven’t paid for it!)

So, what of our journey? We set out to experience the music and the cities of the U.S. and we can count it as ‘mission accomplished’. It didn’t all go to the original plan when forces of nature intervened. We missed out Charleston and half of the Blue Mountain Parkway but those omissions can be rectified in the future, if we wish. We, unlike so many in that part of North America, were safe and in relative comfort. Our thoughts were with those who suffered.

The blog seems to be all-encompassing but a few quirks were missed out for brevity (and temporary amnesia – not caused by alcohol!). We added to them a few minutes ago when our pilot told us he was hoping to make “a smooth and speedy flight landing a few minutes early” and continued, “I’m hoping to make a few shortcuts!” Wot?!

Having recently accidentally emulated my mother’s admonishment, were I ever to have used bad language, “I’ll wash your mouth out with soap and water!”, what else can I add?

From the wet, rain-soaked vision of the pair of us in New York, we went to a wet, sweat-soaked vision of us in New Orleans but, in between times, the sun shone, or didn’t, and we smiled, looked, listened, and sang… whatever!

Driving:
It’s different. The “concrete arteries clogged with the cholesterol of cars” was how I described American roads last year in Los Angeles. Our roads this trip were virtually all free flowing and, for much of the time, straight and well maintained despite the overuse of concrete for roads and, especially, bridges. Traffic lights go from Red to Green without the intervening Red/Amber and you can turn Right on Red unless told otherwise. It surprised me that after a No Entry sign on the inappropriate carriageway of a Freeway (our Motorway) there was usually a second sign about 50 metres down the road saying “Wrong way!”. Which idiot would go down the wrong way, I asked myself. Well, I did. Albeit briefly. Turning left on to a multi-lane dual carriageway at night in the dark (see how I’m building the possible excuses) where the Sat. Nav. showed a sharp left turn and then sharp right, I found myself, suddenly, facing potentially oncoming traffic. Fortunately, I saw the cars a distance away and had an exit. Phew.

I was impressed, as always, by the 53 feet length and over 11 feet tall trucks who, occasionally, on this trip suddenly had a ‘skirt’ underneath. Apparently, called ‘wings’ and, I assume, useful for aerodynamics. As a former Maths’ teacher, I do like the U.S. use of Median for the central reservation.

Nomenclature:
Soubriquets included: Babe, Sweetie, Honey and, of course, the ubiquitous Guys. Being described as the most beautiful woman in the bar was tempered by his inebriation! Ah, well! I was reminded there of a song which we frequently heard on the Country Music channels on our car radio:
🎼🎶🎤 “They say I’ve got a drinking problem but it’s no problem drinking at all.
They call it a problem but I call it a solution.”

The road from Nashville to New Orleans is known as the ‘Music Highway’ and you can understand why. Musical oddities? One of the bands (hillbilly) at the Grand Ole Opry was called, ‘The Possum Touchers’ and a member of another band (cowboy), ‘Riders in the Sky’, had a green pronged item as neckwear which he called his Cac-tie! And I’m told my jokes are bad. The worst joke of that evening had to be… “We give him laxatives at night with a sleeping pill. It makes him sleep like a baby.”

In Washington D.C., we got half of our hotel bill returned together with a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries after a complaint and ‘blagged’ our way into a museum without online booking. We Seniors don’t take any messing with! And we showed the youngsters how to ride the Segways! Right on, eh?! We Rock!

Another wonderful Road Trip nearly over. Our ‘Thelma and Louise’ will never emulate Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the ‘Roads to Wherever’ but we’ll try.

It may be slightly silly but I was positively excited to see the sea again as we drove towards New Orleans. It was our first glimpse since New York. It was also fascinating to experience the freeway crossing the Louisiana swamps, the bayou, and the unusual looking trees which rise up through the water. Because we are staying in the heart of the French Quarter, the final part of our journey was through cramped streets, teeming with colour with the sounds of jazz everywhere, and manoeuvring our way amongst the horse drawn tour carriages which moved at their own slow pace. We were happy to hand the car over to the parking valet and step into the beautiful hotel, which definitely reflects a ‘grand age’ with every possible modern amenity.

We ‘hot footed’ it out and enjoyed a ramble. We seemed to be close to all the places I wanted to see and quickly happened upon the Mississippi River Boat cruise. Oh yes! A two hour cruise down the Mississippi in high temperatures and humidity offered at least some relief with the odd breeze crossing the decks. This is apparently the only steamboat on the river – we know that it is steam driven as we saw the boilers “Thelma and Louise” and even braved the engine room. Some way downstream the guide pointed out a monument to the Battle of New Orleans. Ear worm once more of Lonnie Donegan’s song

Well in 1814, we took a little trip,
Along with Colonel Packenham down the mighty Mississipp’.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,
And we fought the bloomin British in the town of New Orleans

In this case, the clouds began a-coming, lightning flashed in the distance but nothing reached us. The boat’s hooter sounded impressively as we hailed a cruise ship setting out for sea, following the path we had taken alongside the levee. Instructions for our docking were done the old fashioned way – by megaphone. Fascinating.

We had explored some of the lively streets along the way, so made it a quick dash back to the blissfully air conditioned hotel. I think the last time I perspired at such a rate was in Mumbai.

We went to claim a complementary drink from the bar and found there was a different jazz group playing each evening. What a fabulous band it turned out to be. This was real New Orleans jazz with trumpet lead, amazing saxophonist, drummer, bass and keyboard. Quite outstanding and we enjoyed cocktails (thankfully normal strength) whilst simply loving the entertainment.

A short stroll around the local streets finished off the evening. This is the vibrant ‘happening’ place I had expected in Memphis and we just love it.

Day 2 – and as a start to the day we enjoy a real Louisiana breakfast of poached eggs on top of crabmeat with a crayfish sauce over the top and three colours of fried potato. I may never eat again. As we leave, the day is hot and sunny. Here I am totally understating the case. The heat rises up to say hello, but instead of moving on, it sticks to you until satisfied every pore is working. This really is something else. However, we have walked! Around the French Quarter, around the French Market, into St Louis Cathedral (blissfully cool, light and airy), and on to a drinks stop. We (sorry, I), wanted to take a photograph of the Mississippi Steamboat setting off. Of course, the darned thing was late setting off by a good 10 minutes. But we stood under the relentless sun, waited and dripped a bit more. Finally….!

Back for a circuit around the already heaving streets with the pulsing sounds of the street bands. I presume these are the guys who can’t get a gig in the bars but make a living from this type of busking. I stood besides the Rib Room whilst Carolyn took a video of a street band. Inside were groups of the gentry – southern gentlemen in their cream suits, sitting at pristine tables with silver cutlery and linen napkins, eating huge plates of hot food. Groan!

It is late afternoon and definitely time for some air conditioning or even a swim before contemplating a tour of the bars for a selection of music when the sun goes down over the grand old Mississippi. Later tomorrow we begin our homeward journey with a flight back to New York. What an amazing trip – again, another slight understatement!

Carolyn’s Curios & Musical Notes 🎼🎶🖌

Well , what can I add?

It’s been a wonderful trip – not yet over – and the past two days have added so much colour and texture to it!

Kath had had New Orleans on her to-do list since we started planning this musical journey. We both have eclectic tastes in music but Kath will tell you that I have a fascination for difference and quality. If it’s good, it’s good – and I may enjoy it!

The stop-off point from Memphis to the Big Easy wasn’t a planned music stop but we researched and found some. New Orleans’ music scene doesn’t require any research. Walk out of the door or, even, down the lobby and you hear it and then see it. Blues? Yes. Jazz? Yes, of almost all types. When we walked past bars in Las Vegas last year, we commented how each bar had different music. But those bars were, sometimes, a block long and the music was piped. Here, every bar is the width of a house and the music is live. Not just the bars. They play in the streets and we saw the archetypal New Orleans Jazz Band walking by – surprisingly followed by a State Trooper motorbike and SUV as well as the traditional crowds of ‘followers’.

My anticipation of New Orleans was fed by James Bond’s ‘Live and Let Die’ with McCartney’s theme tune. Our hotel was only a block away from the site of the film’s funeral procession. Did it match the film? Yes – as picturesque and more vibrantly beautiful. But, we were warned to be careful, especially at night. We were and, frankly, felt safe but we didn’t stay out very late.

Our musical experiences were so many. The map shows only some of the bars – we listened at all of them! However, we had more formal traditional jazz last night from The Luneta Jazz Band and New Orleans Jazz tonight from The Doyle Cooper Jazz Band. It was Thomas Beecham who said, “There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between.” With jazz, that rule still mainly applies but it does matter what goes on in between, of course. We’ve seen three quite different types of jazz on our Musical Road Trip but all played with expertise and passion. From a core melody, the players extemporise each as individuals although, somehow, in time, tune and passion with each other. Tonight, J.W.Pepper’s creation, the sousaphone, replaced last night’s double bass, a guitar replaced a keyboard, a trombone replaced the tenor and soprano sax whilst the trumpet (‘horn’) and drums were common. All playing separately and yet totally together. I have to make special comment about the trombonist tonight. He seemed autistic as he sat uncommunicatively until he began playing and then… the trombone sang as did he! What a player!

We caught several street bands and a band on the Steamboat Natchez as well. Joy!

Talking of the steamboat… there are only two on the Mississippi. The others are riverboats but not steam. The Natchez is the ninth boat wth that name and an earlier one lost the famous race with the Robert E. Lee in 1870. Despite the Mississippi being 200 feet deep in the centre, Natchez only has a draft of five feet. The river is mind boggling in its size. It’s the third largest river in the world by the area it drains. Where we are, sees 1 million cubic feet of water per second pass by. Because of this flow, there are no tides here and no salt water. The Natchez was only built 42 years ago but its steam engines are 92 years old and its style is even older. Great addition to our musical journey with a New Orleans Jazz Band playing on board. (Being able to spell Mississippi has been a buzz for me since Primary School: M – I – double S – I – double S – I – double P – I )

Musical nudges? Kath has mention ‘Down at the levee’ but, what about ‘Proud Mary’:
“Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis
Pumped a lot of tane down in New Orleans
But I never saw the good side of the city
Until I hitched a ride on a riverboat queen
You know that big wheel keep on turning
Proud Mary keep on burning
And we’re rolling, rolling, rolling yeah (rolling)
Rolling on the river.”

(“tane”, by the way, is an abbreviation of “octane” and is slang for gasoline – I looked it up!)

I also remember ‘Way down yonder in New Orleans”, of course.

A final note about the size of this country. As we left Jackson for New Orleans, the next largest big town, our Sat. Nav. blithely announced, ‘Continue on the I55 for 185 miles”. Cruise control set, we drove here and it was worth it, indeed.